Dorna Communications

There’s just no keeping VR46 down. During a tense season where the Doctor scored a top five championship finish in motorcycle racing’s premier class – nailing six podiums and a win – Valentino Rossi wrapped things up in fine style by taking a record-breaking sixth victory at the 2017 Monza Rally Show.

  Great victory at the Monza Rally Show 2017 after a thrilling ending🥇🏆🍾 📽by @GoPro A post shared by valeyellow46 (@valeyellow46) on Dec 4, 2017 at 6:38am PST

Drama struck initially however, where after stage two, Valentino was handed a 10-second penalty; due to his 2016-spec Ford Fiesta RS WRC being found to be 7kg underweight. Undeterred the nine time World Champion battled his way through the nine icy stages on the legendary Italian bankings to win the penultimate stage and take the top spot in the overall standings, finishing 5.7 seconds clear of second placed Marco Bonanomi.

Valentino Rossi:
“This was one of the most hard fought Monza Rallies that I have raced at, because there were four cars able to win, and everybody was close right up until the end. Unfortunately the team made a small mistake with the weight of the car on Friday. We didn’t calculate for the lights on the front of the car. It was a stupid mistake! When I stopped after stage two and they said I was under weight and I got a 10 second penalty – I said it was over. But I gave it maximum attack and risked a lot, especially in the second to last stage. It’s a shame to not get the Master’s stage result, but for me the more important, so I’m happy! The Monza Rally Show is always great fun, because it’s a real race where you can drive these types of cars fast – but at the end you can enjoy it too with less pressure at the end of the season. All the team is very happy because after this week we start our winter holiday and there’s always a great atmosphere. To enjoy it, you still have to try your maximum, and the challenge is very difficult and the level his very high. Especially in the last few years the event has grown up a lot, and there are real rally drivers here now to have a lot of fun competing against. This is our unique team at Monza so it’s something special, and it wouldn’t be the same to do the rally alone. Of course driving with the Brivios and Uccio is very funny; because you can talk a lot about the technical things but at the same time still make a lot of jokes if you’re faster or slower than them!"

  Monza Rally Show 2017 Saturday,day2 📸 @falex79 A post shared by valeyellow46 (@valeyellow46) on Dec 2, 2017 at 11:41pm PST